Am I crazy for wanting one?

specifically, to use on the back roads in cottage country on the weekend?

One of these popped up on craigslist, and I've been looking at them ever since:


What is a decent selling price for one of these in fair condition?

With a decent set of tools and a parts book, should a somewhat capable person be able to maintain on of these?

cheers.

 

 

They can be fun, but they probably don't perform (usually) like what you might expect. If you're used to modern sportbikes, you might be disappointed.

If you just want a cheap, fun, throwaway bike, try something like the Cleveland Misfit, which is like, $3000 or something ridiculous, and has inverted forks, what look like decent brakes, etc.



Old bikes, IMO, are not worth the trouble.

 

Here is a link to Lossa Engineering. These guys build some nice cb's.
I owned one myself for about a year and it was alot of fun and got a huge amount of attention. 1966 CB 160 - "Poco Bastardo" - Completed

 

They blow to ride.

But boy are they beautiful.

 

 

Here's the thing:

I've never drove a motorcycle.

Rode on a few, took one down the driveway once (BMW 850R I believe 0 loved the Remus on it.) So to me it would be a new experience, and used to get between the LCBO (5km down the sideroad) and for a nice ride.

VTGTS: Nothing came up. Try again.

 

try again.

 

I dunno, as much as I'm crazy for old cars, old bikes do nothing for me. The steering is heavy, the commands are sloppy, the brakes are only good for a joke once you get out of the ditch, reliability is sketchy.

Rode dirtbikes a lot. Then rode some old bikes on the street, thought all road bikes were like that and didn't pursue it for a couple years. Then got a modern bike. Blew my mind how much better it was.

But that's my strangely objective observation. You may find you'll love the mechanical romanticism of an old bike.

It also helps if you're not going far. I couldn't do the 600km/day rides I do on an old bike.

 

The loop I do in the car takes me 25 minutes , not leaving third gear. so figure 45 minutes on the bike at most.

Thanks for the response. I think I'll take a look, and then sign up for the course at least.